Frigg, Roman 
ORCID: 0000-0003-0812-0907 and Werndl, Charlotte
(2012)
Demystifying typicality.
Philosophy of Science, 79 (5).
pp. 917-929.
ISSN 0031-8248
Abstract
A gas prepared in a nonequilibrium state will approach equilibrium and stay there. An influential contemporary approach to statistical mechanics explains this behavior in terms of typicality. However, this explanation has been criticized as mysterious as long as no connection with the dynamics of the system is established. We take this criticism as our point of departure. Our central claim is that Hamiltonians of gases that are epsilon-ergodic are typical with respect to the Whitney topology. Because equilibrium states are typical, it follows that typical initial conditions approach equilibrium and stay there.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Official URL: | http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/journals/journal... |
| Additional Information: | © 2012 Philosophy of Science Association |
| Divisions: | Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method CPNSS Centre for Analysis of Time Series |
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) Q Science > Q Science (General) |
| Date Deposited: | 19 Apr 2013 15:18 |
| Last Modified: | 25 Sep 2024 07:33 |
| URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/49768 |
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